Mistakes
by deMona06
Summary: Harper's parents' sacrifice
1. Default Chapter

TITLE: Mistakes

AUTHOR: deMona

RATING: R for violence and rape.

SPOILERS: bunker hill

DISCLAIMER: i own nothing, i make nothing, this is just for fun, blah, blah, blah.

ARCHIVE: yeah, sure, just let me know

SUMMARY: Harper's parents' sacrifice

Chapter 1

They could hear the pounding on their neighbor's door, the shouting as the Nietzschean slavers forcefully demanded the location of their prey.

'Seamus, you have to hide. We'll stop them. But you have to hide now.' His father whispered hurriedly.

'But dad, w-what are you going to do? How are we going to…?' He struggled against his parents as he was being shoved toward a crawlspace they had. They stopped.

His mother took his face tenderly in her hands. 'We love you, whatever happens.' She pulled him into her arms, and he buried his face in her shoulder. Whispering into his ear, she said, 'You've always made me very happy.' She kissed the top of his head. 'My baby boy.' Her voice cracked.

At that moment there was a pounding at the door. His father touched his mother's elbow gently and whispered, 'We have to do this now.'

She gave him one last squeeze and let go of him. He allowed himself to be pushed to the entrance of the crawlspace.

'Whatever you hear, stays where you are. Do not move. Make no sound.' His father instructed. 'Understand?'

Seamus absently shook his head up and down. Everything was just happening too fast. He couldn't wrap his mind around it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had begun earlier that same day. He and his older cousin Brendan had broken into a slaver's ship to steal food and whatever supplies or pieces of tech they could get their hands on. They had been staking it out for days previous, so that they knew the habits of its inhabitants, knew when they would be away from the vessel. It had been absurdly easy to get in. Heck, the portals weren't even locked. And once in, they expertly grabbed as much as they could as fast as they could and were out within minutes, blessing their good fortune.

Once they had gotten a safe distance away, the two boys divided their loot between each other and separated. Taking the long way so as not to attract the wrong sort of attention, Seamus practically skipped home with his bounty. He was particularly excited about a holo-projector he had swiped and couldn't wait to examine and play with it.

But when he arrived home near sunset he found his parents waiting for him with grave expressions on their faces. His grin faded and he let go his parcel.

'Honest, Ma. I found this stuff in the trash, I got it legit. You don't have to worry about…' he quickly began to explain.

His father put his hand up, 'Son,' he said, and Seamus halted his stammering. 'They saw you. And they've been looking for you.' His father's strong voice was sadder than Seamus had ever heard before. It was disorienting.

'Dad, w-what are you talking about? Who's looking for me?'

His mother stepped forward. 'They've been going door to door all afternoon with a picture of you. There was a camera aboard that ship you broke into today…. and yes, my sister told me what you and her son have been up to.' She added when he started to argue. His parents were always rebuking him for messing with the Neits.

He expected them to really chew him out this time. He cursed his aunt for having ratted them out.

The rest didn't really mean anything to him. He was almost 16, had been robbing the Ubers for years. He never got caught. Others got caught all the time, sure, but that's because they made mistakes, stupid mistakes like missing security cams. And he was a genius, way too smart to do something like that…

But that's when he heard the pounding on his neighbor's door and the reality of it hit him like a bag of bricks.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Next thing he knew he was being shoved into the crawlspace, but not before his father gave him a rough kiss on the forehead and, looking him straight in the eyes, whispered, 'You are my son. I'm proud of you.' He glanced at the door the slavers were pounding on; it would give in any moment. He turned back to his child and, with his thumb, wiped a single tear from the boy's cheek. He leaned his face close to Seamus' and whispered, 'I have no regrets.'

And then there was darkness as Seamus was sealed into the crawlspace.

TBC

and yes, i am working on I Knew You. a brand spankin' new chapter will be posted within a week. hopefully. but only if you show the love! 


	2. Chapter 2

I'm sooo sorry this has taken so long! For what it's worth, I hope you like it!

And thank you to dragoncharmer for beta-ing!

Mistakes

Ch. 2

Seamus stood in the darkness in momentary shock. _What had just happened?_ He was stunned as much by his father's words and actions as by anything else.

He was always closer to his mother than he was to his father, especially since they had relocated to the Boston ghettos 5 years ago. He and his father were always butting heads, especially when it came to the nietzscheans. His mother was a woman to be reckoned with, but she tolerated well enough his clandestine activities against them; he thought she might even have encouraged him, if it weren't for his father. His father believed it futile and foolhardy to fight the Dragons, and he wasn't afraid to tell him so. Seamus resented his father for this cowardly attitude. And his father seemed to resent him just as much, if nothing else, for the trouble he brought on the family. So why had his father been so tender with him only moments ago?

He could hear pounding outside… the nietzscheans…

_I shouldn't be in here, we should all be leaving… there's still time to escape… I was just having fun…_

In a moment he was pushing against the entrance. "Da!" He cried. But just then he could hear the front door give way and a rush of heavy boots entering the family's one room home. He bit his lip and froze, listening intently…

-----

Shawn Harper took his place at his wife, Emily's, side. They were going to face this together. There was little time yet. The door would burst open any moment, and they both knew what would happen then. Shawn thought about his last words to his son: 'I have no regrets.' He didn't regret what they were about to do, what they were about to sacrifice, or anything they had previously sacrificed for their only child… no, he did regret one thing: he had sacrificed his relationship with his son because he thought it would protect him from meeting the same fate so many others' children had already succumbed to. He had tried for years to discourage Seamus from antagonizing the nietzscheans, but now, he regretted that. He admired now his son's courage, his idealism that willed him to fight the Nietzschean tyranny, while his cowardly father did nothing…

He was knocked out of his thoughts by three Nietzschean slavers finally bursting through the now-shattered entrance to their small home. The largest, the apparent leader, approached the couple.

'Greetings. I am Vago Katan out of Adhara by Regulus. And, you are?' He offered them with false joviality. After a moment and no reply he continued, 'You are Shawn and Emily Harper. I am here for Seamus Harper. He is your child. Give him to me.'

'He,' Shawn took a deep breath. He kept his eyes to the ground. 'He doesn't live here… Sir.'

Vago gave a bemused smile. 'Doesn't he?'

'He ran away. Three weeks ago today.' Shawn purposefully kept his answers short and to the point, he did not want to rouse the Nietzschean's anger. If there was any hope they might escape what was to come…

'Interesting.' He said quietly, and began to circle the couple at a leisurely pace, giving the impression of cat toying with its latest catch. 'And… you have no idea where he might be found?'

'We haven't, sir.'

The Nietzschean nodded knowingly. 'I see. That is unfortunate.'

He stopped to handle a small gadget resting on what passed for the family's kitchen counter, his back to the anxious humans. Eyeing the parcel of stolen goods Seamus had dropped near the door only a short time before from the corner of his eye, he said, in a disinterested tone, 'He stole from me, you know. Entered a vessel under my ownership, and _stole_ from me.' His next words were venomous. 'A _kludge_ may not expect to steal from the Drago Kazov and go unpunished.' He crushed the gadget in his hand.

He turned around to look at the couple, and continued, his tone again light, as if he were sharing a joke among friends… 'Does your kind not teach your young that it is wrong to steal?' His eyes scanned the small home and he laughed out loud, the joke quite real to him 'No, of course not… not when you live like _this_.'

Emily, who was always a passionate woman, had fast reached her wits end. '_Please_…' she begged, shaking with emotion, "He's not here…." Shawn squeezed her hand in warning, but she paid no mind, "…he's not here, and we don't know where he is…."

She faltered a little when Vago began to approach her "…he's… he's not here…you must believe us…" The Nietzschean took her chin in his hand and pulled her away from her husband toward himself. She fell silent. In a low, dangerous voice, he said, "You will not presume to tell me what I must and mustn't do. Am I clear, _woman_?" Still in his grip, she nodded her agreement. Satisfied, the falsely jovial smile returning to his face, he released her with force, sending her backward into her husband's embrace.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

For what seemed like ages after that everything was still and quiet. Seamus strained in the darkness to hear what might be happening. He was worried his mother might have been hurt. He didn't want her hurt on account of him. He didn't want her hurt for any reason.

The uber was talking again. Seamus couldn't quite make out his father's reply. Then his mother was talking. 'I can work. We both can. We are skilled…' _she wants the slavers to take them in his place?_ _No, mom. Why would you want to do that? _

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Vago laughed again the sound filling the small space. 'You amuse me, kludge, but you do not amuse me enough. Where is he?'

'We don't know where-' Shawn started…

'DO NOT LIE TO ME!' He struck him so hard he was thrown to the floor. But the Nietz continued. 'I am generous to forgive you if you have not been honest with me until this point… it might even have been admirable… but I will tolerate it no longer. The boy is here, is he not?'

Emily cradled her husband, who was still reeling from the blow, in her arms. She looked up at the Nietz with scorn. 'Go to Hell.'

Growling in disgust, the Nietzschean snapped his fingers. 'Search every inch.' he ordered. And Vago's two large companions eagerly began to upturn the sparse furniture, dumping drawers and boxes in search for their prey.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Struggling to control his heart and breathing rates_ (Ubers can hear better than humans can…)_, Seamus crouched nervously in his small hiding space. He could hear them ransacking his home in their search for him. He steeled himself for the encounter he knew was just moments away, when they would tear open the crawlspace and drag him out to his fate…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shawn was coming to now. He opened his eyes to Emily's beautiful face above his own, his head on her lap. He frowned at the fresh bruises marking her chin. Then it all came back to him again and he sat up quickly, startling his wife, who remained quiet. He looked around and saw the destruction the nietzscheans were making of their home, searching for his son. His heart skipped a bit, seeing how close they were. He looked up at Vago, who was ignoring them now, as he monitored his men's work. They were getting so close…

'You'ld think with such superior hearing you UBERS would have heard me when I said HE'S NOT HERE.'

At the word 'uber' the Nietzscheans all turned their attention to him. Shawn went to stand but Emily clenched down on his shoulder. He met her eyes for a moment, searching. She gave an almost indiscernible nod, and he lifted himself to full height.

He straightened out his clothes (rags, whatever, call them what you like), and chuckled to himself. Vago tilted his head quizzically at the human, perhaps wondering if his blow had done more damage to the weak human's head than it seemed…

'But maybe you didn't hear me. Maybe you lot got a sour batch of genes, eh? Maybe you lot were _defective_…?'

The Nietzs' throats reverberated their displeasure at his remark. Vago locked eyes with the human, but, speaking to Emily, he said, 'I would advise you to silence your mate before he says something you both will regret.' She spat in his face in reply.

It happened quickly after that…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Seamus found himself listening helplessly, frozen in horror at what he was hearing…

He could hear both his parents' struggles… he covered his ears and closed his eyes, his knees drawn to his chest, tears streaming silently down his face. He couldn't listen anymore.

Tbc…

Please R&R!


End file.
